KINTSVISI MONASTERY

Kintsisvi Monastery

Kintsvisi Monastery (Region of Shida Kartli)

Kintsvisi Monastery (Georg. ყინწვისის მონასტერი)  is located in the picturesque gorge of the Dzama river. The medieval monastery complex was built during the reign of Queen Tamara. The central  central church dedicated to St Nicholas is thought to date to the early 13th century, in what is generally regarded as the Georgian Golden Age. Also here a portrait of Queen Tamara.  Particularly remarkable is the figure of a sitting angel  from the Resurrection composition pointing at the open sarcophagus in a gracious manner, represented above the kings’ figures, between two windows.

Except for the main church the monastery territory contains other buildings of different age and preservation, surrounded by the ruins of the common wall. Among the ruins, the bell tower, included into the northern wall, and two hall churches can be recognized. The smaller St. George’s Church, standing close to the western facade, is in rather good condition. From the larger St. Mary’s Church, standing in the north-west part of the area, only the apse with frescoes remains. The walls of this church were presumably entirely painted in the same manner as the main church, but everything but the apse has collapsed into ruins down the side of the mountain.

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